What's it like studying psychology?

[Ikr]

Hello, I am not sure if I found the right place to answer some of my questions but here we go. I'm thinking of going back to school. Never studied on university level before so I'm a little nervous and not sure if I'm cut out for it. I really want to work within the field of psychology, more precisely counseling (individuals,couples,families) as far as I know... this might however change after I acquainted myself better with other areas of psychology. 

Anyway I need to calm my nerves some so I'm very curious about the practical aspect of studying psychology (bach>masters) on university level. What's the curriculum look like, deadlines, how are the tests and presentations designed (written, oral, reports?) and generally how hard are the courses? I know the latter is subjective and altough I appreciate any input, I'm mostly interested in the practical aspect and what it's like. Literally no detail irrelevant or too small.

If it's of any relevance I'm planning on attending an university in Oregon, probably Portland. Btw I don't live in the States and I'm not american, I'm thinking of taking the route via community college as international student and then transferring to an university. 

 

Thanks

 

[Piagetsky]

5 minutes ago, Ikr said:

Anyway I need to calm my nerves some so I'm very curious about the practical aspect of studying psychology (bach>masters) on university level. What's the curriculum look like, deadlines, how are the tests and presentations designed (written, oral, reports?) and generally how hard are the courses? I know the latter is subjective and altough I appreciate any input, I'm mostly interested in the practical aspect and what it's like. Literally no detail irrelevant or too small.

 

In my experience, this varies by school.  I did the same thing you're talking about (community college to university and hopefully to grad school), so I can answer specific questions about what my classes were like, but I'd be hesitant to generalize those to other schools.  BTW, I'm from Portland (though I didn't go to school there), so if you have questions about Portland, I can answer those too!  I'm really glad I returned to school after all these years.

[Johnic73]

I recently finished my bachelors at an university and am interviewing for clinical psychology PhD programs. I recommend checking out the APA website for more information on different career paths. These two links explain different specialities in the mental health field and provide information in undergraduate education: http://apa.org/ed/precollege/index.aspx

http://apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/recognized.aspx

The second link has a list of APA recognized specialities, and you can click on them and see more information on each. 

If you have more specific questions and want subjective answers feel free to private message me. I have friends in social work, experimental psychology, mental health rehabilitation, clinical psychology, forensic psychology, and neuroscience. Thus, I can provide my perspective on these subfields. Also, I wouldn't hesitate contacting someone within the psychology department at your perspective schools about the curriculum and other questions you may have. 

Hope this helps! 

[Tahlain]

Invigorating. 

[Ikr]

On 09/02/2016 at 0:43 AM, Piagetsky said:

In my experience, this varies by school

[...] 

I'd be hesitant to generalize those to other schools

I guess I'm looking for people's personal experiences so I can get a picture of what it can be like. Some may say it's hard others may say it's piece of cake, but that's kind of abstract and doesn't really say much. So any input on what the tests, examinations, schedule, classes, deadlines etc. look like is helpful...no detail irrelevant. Just a concrete/cold facts take on the everyday life of studying psychology.  

Cool you're from Portland. Will definitely be getting back to you once I step out of the abstract a little. 

[Piagetsky]

7 hours ago, Ikr said:

I guess I'm looking for people's personal experiences so I can get a picture of what it can be like. Some may say it's hard others may say it's piece of cake, but that's kind of abstract and doesn't really say much. So any input on what the tests, examinations, schedule, classes, deadlines etc. look like is helpful...no detail irrelevant. Just a concrete/cold facts take on the everyday life of studying psychology.  

Cool you're from Portland. Will definitely be getting back to you once I step out of the abstract a little. 

 

I still have most of my syllabi from my community college and university days.  Let's talk.

[SAH]

On February 11, 2016 at 8:45 PM, Ikr said:

I guess I'm looking for people's personal experiences so I can get a picture of what it can be like. Some may say it's hard others may say it's piece of cake, but that's kind of abstract and doesn't really say much.

I've found that people's estimation of the difficulty associated with studying psychology varies mostly as a function of 1. their prior experience and 2. their specialization.  I know psych majors who came from areas like molecular biology, biochem, and aerospace, and they all pretty much agree that psych is a piece of cake.  My friends with cogneuro and psychophysics/psychopharmacology aspirations complain more about the difficulty of classes than do my friends focusing on social or clinical.  This is of course tempered by the courses taken and how seriously you take each course.  I've found most aspects of my degree to be relatively easy, there is little reading compared to philosophy courses (my minor) and the concepts tend to be reasonably intuitive (my focus is in cogneuro).  This said, it's the extra things that make your degree worth while and this is where most of the difficulty/time commitment lies.  

[Etherea]

I am currently a community college student and will be transferring to university once I complete my AA (two and a half semesters left). I'd be happy to share my experiences (while currently fairly limited, but relevant since you are just starting out).

My senior year in high school I decided, to the dismay of my family and friends, not to go to college. It started out as taking a year off, but one year turned to two, then three, and so on. I graduated in 2008 and started my first semester in college in February 2015. I work full time and go to school full time. That's a tough combination, but doable. I don't know if that's your situation, but it sounds to me like you're also a nontraditional student, and most nontrads tend to have to juggle work and school (and whatever else).

Going back to school was an adjustment for me. I like learning, I did ok in high school (I didn't apply myself though), but after taking a break I wasn't quite ready for what going to college would mean for me. The course work is, in my opinion, pretty easy to handle. It's the amount of work that gets me, though I've gotten a lot better at prioritizing (having a clear goal in mind helps, even if you do end up changing your mind eventually...I did, a lot). 

I have taken general psych, developmental psych, am in abnormal psych this semester and I plan on taking human adjustment next semester. General and abnormal psych is really very much like the several psych courses I took in high school (I took two semesters worth). I personally haven't learned anything from general psych and only a bit more from abnormal so far. Developmental psych was great and I'd recommend it to anyone no matter what their major or plans for the future. I loved the class and learned a lot of useful (useful in my slightly geeky mind anyway) information.

My interest lies in I/O psychology and that's what I plan to get my doctorate in. I'm excited to get started on more psychology courses and really dig into my major.

[St0chastic]

On 2/12/2016 at 6:23 PM, SAH said:

I know psych majors who came from areas like molecular biology, biochem, and aerospace, and they all pretty much agree that psych is a piece of cake.  My friends with cogneuro and psychophysics/psychopharmacology aspirations complain more about the difficulty of classes than do my friends focusing on social or clinical.  

It really irks me that psychology classes on the whole are relatively easy.  I double majored in biology and psychology, and the majority of my biology classes were substantially more challenging.  In 90% of my psych classes, I felt like as long as I attended class and did the readings I could secure an A fairly easily.  In most of my bio courses, putting in the equivalent amount of time and effort would get me a B+ or A-.  It's not like biology is conceptually more difficult, it's just that biology tests tend to be more detail oriented and require extensive memorization of abstract information that is difficult to relate to one's day-to-day life (e.g., transduction cascades, cell biology and genetics more generally).  

I think it's ridiculous that a B+ is considered a subpar grade these days, especially in psychology classes.  To counter grade inflation and the perception that some majors are easier than others, course difficulty should be normalized such that the average grade received is a C.  People should be proud to get a B+ or A-, not ashamed!